He was referred to a surgeon at a different hospital than the one I work at, and underwent an angiogram, to see the aneurysms better. The surgeons there said that he was sure to die if they did not intervene, and that they should schedule a surgery within the coming weeks.

Fortunately for him (or so he thought) he was released from prison one week later.

Universal access to healthcare should be something that Americans have already implemented. Whether free as in the UK system or some percentage covered as in the Japanese system, there has to be a better way than letting the poor go without treatment or, as in this case, admit themselves to jail to get it.

The current Obamacare system is a travesty and does little to alleviate the actual burden on those who need it most. Even as a first step, it is a terrible compromise that doesn't seem to lead towards single payer universal health care.

It may be that this was what Republicans intended by refusing health reform for so long. Imprison all the poor people, make them work for $1 an hour for large corporations in order to get health care. With fewer poor people running around, they cannot vote for Democrats and create the Libertarian utopia most Republicans want.

Prison has been my retirement plan for a long time. People think I'm joking but when I first heard of an old dude in a wheelchair robbing a bank then waiting patiently outside for the police because he couldn't afford his medications and his housing, I thought "better than dying like a dog in the streets".

Godscrack:That's what the state wants. Make essential living needs easier to get in jail. They need bodies for their prisons to make more money.

More and more people who don't want to be homeless, are doing it.

Some of our homeless people here turn themselves in on bench warrants for petty things when the weather turns bad. I saw one of them after he had told me his plan not two days later. The jail was so overcrowded that they decided someone with over a dozen tickets for hopping the light rail didn't need to go into the jail after all. He looked like he was going to cry.

The Angry Hand of God:Wasn't there some story about some old man who tried this by robbing a bank for a dollar? If I remember correctly, he didn't actually go to jail because he didn't commit a felony.

We've had a few cases just here in California like that, but most of them do indeed go to jail. Maybe the "Dollar Guy" was a trailblazer who let them all know they have to take a LOT of money.

And this is why Obamacare is stupid. Either revert back to where we were where regular people weren't punished in the pocketbook for fringe cases or go full singlepayer. This guy's situaiton is the same today as it was 5 years ago: go to emergency or go to prison

Real Women Drink Akvavit:Prison has been my retirement plan for a long time. People think I'm joking but when I first heard of an old dude in a wheelchair robbing a bank then waiting patiently outside for the police because he couldn't afford his medications and his housing, I thought "better than dying like a dog in the streets".

Godscrack: That's what the state wants. Make essential living needs easier to get in jail. They need bodies for their prisons to make more money.

More and more people who don't want to be homeless, are doing it.

Some of our homeless people here turn themselves in on bench warrants for petty things when the weather turns bad. I saw one of them after he had told me his plan not two days later. The jail was so overcrowded that they decided someone with over a dozen tickets for hopping the light rail didn't need to go into the jail after all. He looked like he was going to cry.

If only vagrancy were a crime, they wouldn't have to go to such lengths to get arrested!

AverageAmericanGuy:The current Obamacare system is a travesty and does little to alleviate the actual burden on those who need it most.

You had me up until this line. The Affordable Care Act is not implemented therefore the current system is the one we all know so well. The intent of the current system is transferring wealth from the sick and old to the already wealthy, not to provide health care. I have farkied you a nice purple hue reserved for all Republican shills.

Not that I perform life-saving surgery, but I have witnessed similar scenarios. I work for a hospital dental clinic and see patients all the time who purposely have themselves committed so they can have their toothaches treated. Some of the assistants biatch that it's an abuse of the system, but I imagine that when you have a toothache, you'll do anything to get it treated. It's a sad situation.

bhcompy:And this is why Obamacare is stupid. Either revert back to where we were where regular people weren't punished in the pocketbook for fringe cases or go full singlepayer. This guy's situaiton is the same today as it was 5 years ago: go to emergency or go to prison

Obamacare is not in effect until late next year. What the hell are you talking about?

Delay:AverageAmericanGuy: The current Obamacare system is a travesty and does little to alleviate the actual burden on those who need it most.

You had me up until this line. The Affordable Care Act is not implemented therefore the current system is the one we all know so well. The intent of the current system is transferring wealth from the sick and old to the already wealthy, not to provide health care. I have farkied you a nice purple hue reserved for all Republican shills.

And Obamacare sends just so many more people to the open arms of private insurance companies. So net change: +-0

rev. dave:bhcompy: And this is why Obamacare is stupid. Either revert back to where we were where regular people weren't punished in the pocketbook for fringe cases or go full singlepayer. This guy's situaiton is the same today as it was 5 years ago: go to emergency or go to prison

Obamacare is not in effect until late next year. What the hell are you talking about?

There are many provisions of Obamacare that are already in effect, and insurance companies have already jacked up rates in preparation.

Too bad he can't move to NY (because of parole I'd imagine.) Unemployed individuals with limited financial resources qualify for 100% subsidized health coverage, including dental, mental health, prescriptions, vision and in his case, life-saving surgery. Living in New York for a few months can't be much worse than prison.

gshepnyc:We are creating a borderline slave class and those at the top won't be happy until we are all in it, until our every need can no longer be met by honest work but must be met by work and groveling.

You're blaming the state? Really? When almost every American seems to be deadeset against any form of socialized medicine? Seriously, now, come on. Americans want to make insurance companies richer because (as far as I can tell) you are all idiots. Do not blame "the state" for this mess.

We are creating a borderline slave class and those at the top won't be happy until we are all in it, until our every need can no longer be met by honest work but must be met by work and groveling.

We've always had one of those, starting with indenture in the 18th century. It waxes & wanes and changes composition from time to time, though since Reagan's first term it's been expanding: now college-educated white people get to join in record numbers.

If we're going to do that let's at least euthanize people instead of letting them die slowly and painfully. That's so cheap it's the default for animal shelters, so there's no excuse for not using it on surplus people. Just go with the one drug procedure that works fine for veterinarians instead of the torture they use on felons.

Tenga:tricycleracer: Tenga: My brother just got released one year early because he was diagnosed with cancer.

They actually told him he has to come back and finish his sentence if he gets cured.

He won't have to go back.

Crime spree time.

He can barely get around on crutches due to the large bone tumor in his leg. Besides, they found out that his body is riddled with them, so he's basically just riding it out.

How does that rule out a crime spree?

Yes, I'm kidding. They're giving him good drugs, right? If it were me I'd party till the pain got too bad then kill myself in the best way possible; not believing in Hell makes that route easy for me to plan on.

xcv:Too bad he can't move to NY (because of parole I'd imagine.) Unemployed individuals with limited financial resources qualify for 100% subsidized health coverage, including dental, mental health, prescriptions, vision and in his case, life-saving surgery. Living in New York for a few months can't be much worse than prison.

Besides my dog who the ex won't give up, what's kept me from moving back to California since the Great Bailout is that their Medicaid cut funding for adult dentistry (among other things): my father and grandfather had a bad enough time with their dentures for ~30 years each that for the past 25 years I've been fighting chronic periodontal disease instead of "curing" it all at once. So far I've only lost three teeth to it (the wisdom teeth don't count, they had to come out anyway), but if one more front tooth has to go I might as well give up -- which would mean I could move anywhere in the USofA. (Keeping most of my teeth till age 50 counts as a victory of sorts as it is.) And as for vision, here in Kentucky they'll pay for exams but my glasses come from Zenni Optical. And you didn't mention hearing aids but here in KY I had to pay for that myself too: an ex-roommate carried my share of the rent for a few months back in 2000 so I could save up the $1200, and since then every time it breaks it costs $175 to send it to Texas to be fixed (it had to be re-cased once, $100 more); $175 might not sound expensive to most Farkers but it represents several months of penny-pinching for me.

I did find that as of April 2012 California was covering hearing aids: when did that start? It would suck to find out I was misinformed and could have gotten a replacement for the hearing aid I lost in 1997, that four years of grating annoyance weren't necessary. At any rate, California is weird: they'll make adults gum their food but they'll let 'em hear in stereo but, also in the reverse of KY, they won't pay for hearing tests or tests to see if the devices are working. (Easy answer for mobile fruitcakes: hitchhike!)

Anyway. I still say guaranteed non-cosmetic single-payer health care for every American is the answer, and if that means shoving a few of the 1% into the ovens then so be it. Failing that, it makes no sense to disallow the Soylent Green solution. If either policy makes the baby Jesus cry then let Him give us a cure for cancer.

Prison has been my retirement plan for a long time. People think I'm joking but when I first heard of an old dude in a wheelchair robbing a bank then waiting patiently outside for the police because he couldn't afford his medications and his housing, I thought "better than dying like a dog in the streets".

I've been "retired" for a few years already, so my plan for senescence or major chronic illness is to kill myself rather than make do with whatever crumbs they'll have to give me by then. Being tied to the bed in a nursing home does not sound like fun even if they do keep me heavily sedated.

[...]

Some of our homeless people here turn themselves in on bench warrants for petty things when the weather turns bad. I saw one of them after he had told me his plan not two days later. The jail was so overcrowded that they decided someone with over a dozen tickets for hopping the light rail didn't need to go into the jail after all. He looked like he was going to cry.

I was going to ask "Why doesn't he just lay his neck across the rail then?" but some farkers might take that the wrong way.

Wasn't there some story about some old man who tried this by robbing a bank for a dollar? If I remember correctly, he didn't actually go to jail because he didn't commit a felony.

We've had a few cases just here in California like that, but most of them do indeed go to jail. Maybe the "Dollar Guy" was a trailblazer who let them all know they have to take a LOT of money.

Where in California? Could you use a paying roommate who'd buy his own Old Crow?

For now I'm kidding unless you'd be very welcoming: back in 8th grade I thought Helen B. chased me around school with scissors because she hated me... Though just in case you should be warned that your competition is a fluffy little mutt who obviously adores me and can imagine no better joy than sitting on my lap while we watch the world go by: I'd rather have that than BJs from coeds.

Besides my dog who the ex won't give up, what's kept me from moving back to California since the Great Bailout is that their Medicaid cut funding for adult dentistry (among other things): my father and grandfather had a bad enough time with their dentures for ~30 years each that for the past 25 years I've been fighting chronic periodontal disease instead of "curing" it all at once. So far I've only lost three teeth to it (the wisdom teeth don't count, they had to come out anyway), but if one more front tooth has to go I might as well give up -- which would mean I could move anywhere in the USofA.

The Managed Care flavor of Medicaid as well as Family Health Plus that has much less stringent eligibility requirements than 'straight' Medicaid. (Low income individuals, including those with insufficient health plans via their employer, higher financial resource levels and more exemptions for immigration status.)

You're blaming the state? Really? When almost every American seems to be deadset against any form of socialized medicine? Seriously, now, come on. Americans want to make insurance companies richer because (as far as I can tell) you are all idiots. Do not blame "the state" for this mess.

I can empathize. I went bankrupt as a result of a series of medical problems that rendered me jobless, insurance-less, and unable to pay the mortgage, much less my enormous medical bills. Flash forward to now, I am on month 7 of FIGHTING the US SSDI process to try and get disability due to my inability to work or pay for medical treatment. They flat out LIED in their rejection response stating I have been under a doctor's care and my condition is currently under control so I don't need SSDI. I Haven't seen a doctor for my severe condition in over 2 years because I haven't been able to afford it, and the only free services for my county have been booked up for months.

I am thinking about getting a lawyer now, although I can't really afford to pay them $6,000 out of the measly amount the government will award me, which is not even near enough to pay for cheap rent plus groceries alone on a monthly basis, and that is if they ever do.

Sometimes I consider landing myself in prison so I can get medical treatment and food, and not DIE from my condition waiting on the government. Or maybe dying is better. Haven't decided yet.

/America fark yeah!//Dying is far better than being a dirty dirty Socialist, amirite?

bhcompy:rev. dave: bhcompy: And this is why Obamacare is stupid. Either revert back to where we were where regular people weren't punished in the pocketbook for fringe cases or go full singlepayer. This guy's situaiton is the same today as it was 5 years ago: go to emergency or go to prison

Obamacare is not in effect until late next year. What the hell are you talking about?

There are many provisions of Obamacare that are already in effect, and insurance companies have already jacked up rates in preparation.

I love how advocates for the PPACA are a lot of time just as ignorant about it as the opponents. On one side it's some earth shattering bill that will improve healthcare for all etc, on the other it's death panels and Brownshirt chaperons in the dr's office.

It's a terrible bill and most everyone loses except for the insurance industry, like usual, it was just as bad as when the republicans have put forward the same awful type plans. Just enough fluff to make people think it's helping people when the rest of the 1,000 pages is how it won't really.

If you don't believe me go take a look at the large health insurers stocks. They are on track for 100% gains in some cases.

Real Women Drink Akvavit:Prison has been my retirement plan for a long time. People think I'm joking but when I first heard of an old dude in a wheelchair robbing a bank then waiting patiently outside for the police because he couldn't afford his medications and his housing, I thought "better than dying like a dog in the streets".

Godscrack: That's what the state wants. Make essential living needs easier to get in jail. They need bodies for their prisons to make more money.

More and more people who don't want to be homeless, are doing it.

Some of our homeless people here turn themselves in on bench warrants for petty things when the weather turns bad. I saw one of them after he had told me his plan not two days later. The jail was so overcrowded that they decided someone with over a dozen tickets for hopping the light rail didn't need to go into the jail after all. He looked like he was going to cry.

If he was thinking faster he would have threatened to eat the judge's kids.

The Angry Hand of God:Wasn't there some story about some old man who tried this by robbing a bank for a dollar? If I remember correctly, he didn't actually go to jail because he didn't commit a felony.